The use of cooperating male and female molds to produce shell-surrounded foods is known in the art. The shells are formed by inserting the male mold in the female mold so that shell-forming material conforms to the space between the two molds.
The shell for kibbe, a Middle Eastern food is currently formed by working the finely ground meat by hand. The meat is placed in the palm of one hand while the fingers from the other hand work the meat. This process is not only tiresome and slow, but it is difficult to control the thickness of the shell to achieve uniformity. Often-times, the shell will simply fall apart requiring the process to be repeated.
Other shell-surrounded foods prepared with cooperating male and female molds use a shell-forming material that can be either a liquid or plastic material when deposited in the female mold. When the material is liquid, the material naturally is uniformly distributed to form the shell when the male mold is inserted into the female mold. On the other hand, when a plastic, non-liquid material is used, uniform distribution of the plastic, shell-forming material is difficult to obtain.
After the shell has been formed, the male mold is removed from the female mold. Because of the tendency of the shell to stick to the surface of the male mold, the shell will be distorted when the male mold is removed from the female mold.
After removal of the male mold, a food filling is placed in the open-ended shell, whereupon the shell is closed so that it surrounds the food filling. Closing the shell can be accomplished by depositing additional shell-forming material in the open end of the formed shell as described in U.S. Pat. No. 833,102. This requires an additional step and additional shell material and can cause the shell material to intermix with the filling. This is particularly undesirable when the shell material and the filling are different types of food.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,745 uses pivotable arms to bring the ends of an open-ended shell together. The use of pivotable arms requires moving parts and further requires the female mold to be provided with suitable means for receiving the arms, thereby increasing the complexity of the device.